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Michael
Thomas (10.09.2001)
Very diverse characters draw you in and make you want more
The game is excellent. The engrossing gameplay, a very deep and
intricate story, and very detailed characters quickly drew me
into the game.
Although I listed the game as 1999, I think the original was
made in 1996 or 1997 (I am using the date of the English version
by Himeya). Because of this, the graphics aren't as sharp as currently
released games are. I think they are done in 256 color format.
But don't let this fool you. They are still well drawn, and full
of detail. I gave the graphics a 'lowish' score, but it's more
because they are dated, and not that they are poorly drawn. You'll
hardly even notice that the graphics are of an older style.
The ending you recieve has 2 parts: a head of household part,
and a love part. Which leads to a number of different endings
that are possible. Because of this, the replayability for this
game is huge. Even if you are on a path to get an ending that
you have already recieved, details, such as the feelings the characters
have for you, who you end up with, and how the conversations go,
can change.
The sound affects and music are midi files, but well done, and
they accent the events that are currently going on. The voice
acting is very good; all the characters have distinct traits that
show through in their voices.
The translation is also very well done. Himeya kept as close
as they could to the 'feel' and meaning of what was being said.
There are no out of place lines; or lines that have been 'Americanized'.
Himeya also cleaned up the script so you wouldn't have the problems
that sometimes popped up in Divi-DEAD
(like when you're talking to Asuza, and your lines are listed
as Asuzas as well). Knowledge of Japanese isn't necessary for
this game. Himeya did change the age of the characters (so they
are all 18+, instead of the ages they give when you talk to them).
I do have some complaints, but it's more cosmetic than anything.
If you choose to have the music playing, it frequently drowns
out what the girls are saying. So I had to play the game with
the music off, so I could hear what was going on. I also feel
it would have been nice if you could have the option of saving
the images at bitmaps (like you do in Divi-DEAD); Photoshop is
such a chore to use when all you want is some wallpaper.
The extras are cool as well. The game includes 3 other sub-games
that you unlock depending on the endings you receive. There is
a slot machine (which has additional pics not availble from just
playing the game), a story about the future of Charme and Kira
(if you end with Kira), and Naomi's room (where Naomi takes a
non-serious interview of the game). In fact, if you don't play
these games and beat them, I do know that you'll never reach 100%.
Glo-r-ia also lets you view the scenes/faces/locations that you've
unlocked (except those you have seen in the slot machine), as
well as play the music. Lastly, it comes with a couple extra wallpapers
which are highly detailed, and very well done.
All-in-all, a highly recommendable game.
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